The day began the same as the one before, which began the same as the one before that, and so on. The summer sun and heat had caused the worst drought in years and was easily noticeable on the street as once immaculate lawns were dead and yellow, and the cars were covered in dust and grime. The inhabitants of Private Drive would, of course, try and cheat the heavy regulations on water use by using it only at night, when they believed their neighbors weren't looking. However, if a car seemed too clean, or the grass around one house was just slightly less yellow than that of its neighbors, they knew that those nosey neighbors would not hesitate to tell, and as such water use was only used for the minimal things. Such as the window box garden on number four, under which a teenaged boy lay.

Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, had just completed his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He had become a Tri-Wizard Champion and battled a dragon, swam to the depths of a lake to save a friend, and navigated through a maze full of dangerous creatures. He and another champion, Cedric Diggory, had been kidnapped, Cedric was killed, and then Harry was forced to participate in the rebirth of the most heinous wizard in recent history. Lord Voldemort and Harry had battled, surrounded by the Dark Lord's Death Eaters, when their wands connected and harry had seen shades of Voldemort's last victims, which included Harry's parents and Cedric. Harry had escaped Voldemort with barely his life, and brought the body of the other champion back with him.

Now, Harry was scrounging for news about the Dark Lord's return, trying to hear what was being done to try and stop him. He heard a loud crack like a car backfiring, and after and altercation with his walrus of an uncle, the young wizard took off, heading for a nearby park. When he arrived, he took a seat on the only swing in the empty park.

"Excuse me?"

Or what Harry thought was an empty park.

The girl who spoke didn't seem to be much older than Harry himself, and was several inches shorter than him. She had fair skin and light brown hair, with the strangest eyes Harry had ever seen. They were a light purple, and gave the feeling that you could see her soul through them, or that she could see his, Harry wasn't quite sure.

"Excuse me, but are you Harry Potter?"

Harry stiffened at the question, instantly on guard. He fingered his wand, making sure he wouldn't be at a disadvantage if the girl turned out to be a Death Eater. 'Honestly Harry!' a voice that sounded strangely like his friend Hermione exclaimed in his head, 'If this girl worked for Voldemort then she wouldn't just walk up to you and start talking! She would already know who you are and wouldn't attack you straight forward either!'

"It's just that," The girl began, breaking into harry's thoughts, "I need to find him and was told that he would be somewhere around here. I have something important I need to speak with him about. Oh! My name is Anna by the way, Anna Pearson." The girl, now named Anna, stuck her hand out to Harry in introduction.

Harry looked at her wearily for a second, before grasping it in his own. "Yes, I'm Harry. What is it that you want from me?"

Anna got a nervous look on her face, and shuffled her feet a little. "Well… I'm a…friend… of Cedric's. He asked me to come and talk to you about something. Is there someplace private we could take this?"

Harry's eyes widened in shock when he heard Cedric's named mentioned, and he became suspicious again when she asked for somewhere private. "How did you know Cedric?"

"Somewhere private first, please. This is really important that we aren't overheard by anyone."

Harry thought for a few seconds, wondering if it were a smart idea to keep talking with this girl, before his curiosity won out in the end. Realizing he couldn't take her back to his Aunt and Uncle's (No "freaks" like him would ever be welcome there), he remembered when he spent the summer in the Leaky Cauldron in his third year, and decided that that would probably be the best place for the two of them to talk freely.

"Alright, I know a place, let me just go inform my relatives of what's going on and I'll be right back. Stay here." And with that Harry took off back towards Private Drive, stopping in long enough to grab a few of his magical possessions like money, and to tell his relatives that he wouldn't be home until probably tomorrow, and ran out again without bothering to listen to his Uncle's outrage.

Yes, Harry recognized that he was probably not being as smart about this as he should have been, however he knew that his relatives were angered more by the principle of it. The only people that really would care would be his godfather and friends from school. They were currently hardly talking to him right now, and all together having a good time together working against Voldemort while leaving Harry in the dark at a place he hated. He didn't give a whole lot more thought to them on his way back to Anna.

When he got back to the park, Anna was still there. she sat on the swing that Harry had previously occupied and was looking around as if she feared something would jump out at her at any minute. Seeing Harry approach, she jumped up and hastily made her way over to where he stood by the street.

"I'm going to call the Knight Bus and then we'll head over to the Leaky Cauldron and get a room there to talk. Is that alright with you?"

She looked confused for a second and hesitated, before finally answering, "Yes, that's fine I suppose."

Harry just nodded before pulling out his wand and pointing it into the street. Anna looked at him expectantly, as if waiting for something. Just as she opened her mouth, a large purple bus appeared out of no where with an obnoxiously loud bang. Anna jumped back in shock like she hadn't expected a triple decker to appear out of no where.

Harry started to board the bus, but when she hadn't moved he turned to her, "Well? Are you coming or what?"

Again, she hesitated, seemingly listening to something else. "I can't pay for it. I came on the tube and only have, uh, muggle" She pronounced the word as if it were foreign to her, "money."

Harry seemed to think for a second. "I'll pay then. Come on now."

Anna flushed a little, before finally following him onto the bus.

The ride to the Leaky Cauldron had been an uneventful one. Harry had learned that Anna didn't seem to know a whole lot about magical Great Britain, and oftentimes hesitated before answering is questions. At the same time, Harry didn't feel uncomfortable around her. She never fawned over his scar or acted like he was famous, and treated him like any other boy. He was slightly confused by the looks and the muttering that sprouted up around him from all the other occupants of the bus however. He noticed them giving him wary glances out of the corner of their eyes and it made him extremely happy when the conductor announced them arriving at the Leaky Cauldron.

When the two of them got of the bus, Harry saw Anna looking around as if she were confused by their location. Trying to smother his irritation, Harry didn't even bother this time with talking to her, instead grabbing her wrist and leading her into to pub.

Seeing as she seemed even more shocked and hesitant when they entered (and Harry had no bloody clue why but was getting irritated at her even more now), Harry just left her at the door and made his way over to Tom, paid for a room, before taking the strange girl up and locking the door so they couldn't be interrupted before turning to her, patience wearing thin. "Well, what is it you have to say to me about Cedric?"

She had a scared look on her face, before sitting down in one of the chairs by a desk. Harry continued to stand, staring at her intently. Finally, she looked up at him and asked "How much do you know about mediums?"

AN: This is my first story in a long time. I don't normally write but this plot bunny has just been bouncing around my head so I just had to go for it. I'm not planning on a paring right now but we'll see what happens. ^.^